The Best and Brightest
by Anastasia Nikoleta
Summary: Julius Root's thought on one particular, rogue, female officer. No pairings.


**Disclaimer: I do not own Artemis Fowl. If I did, Commander Root would still be alive.**

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When Julius Root, leading commander of the LEPrecon, first heard of Holly Short, he laughed. (Well, on the inside, at least. If anyone heard him laughing - especially that idiotic centaur - his reputation would be down the toilet.) The list of new trainees had come in, and there, among countless male and scarce female recruits, was Miss Holly Short.

Now the Commander didn't personally know Short, had never met her in person, but he remembered the one time he had seen her. It had been at Coral Short's recycling, the Commander having gone as an old friend. Short had surprised him. Most fairies cried uncontrollably at their family members' recycling, but Short just stood there, staring straight ahead, stony faced. Of course, Root had assumed that it was all just a mask. Underneath she was a wreck, fragile, easily broken.

He just shook his head at the memory. Short wouldn't last a week, and she certainly wouldn't make it on his team. She was probably doing this in her mother's memory, or some other foolish female thing. She might break a nail, smear her lip gloss, or, gods forbid, get helmet hair. Short would be like every other female who wanted to become an officer.

Root sighed, a strange feeling overwhelming him. Sadness. Part of him wanted a girl on the team, if only just to get those equal-rights protesters off his he thought of the lack emotion on Short's face, he could almost believe that she truly was strong and determined, but then he thought of all the other females who had tried and failed. They had had that look as well.

Angry and disgusted with himself, Root pushed Miss Holly Short out of his mind, and returned to his metaphorical, mountain of paperwork.

The next time the name "Short" entered Julius Root's brain, he was sitting in his office listening to a very excited training officer. Thomas Woodwork was one of the top professors and hands on training coach at the LEP academy. He had rushed over to tell Julius about the brightest star. It was none other than Miss Holly Short.

At the moment Woodwork was telling Root about her latest glory. His hands flapping excitedly, and his snow white hair falling in his eyes, he continued, "You have to see her with your own eyes, she was amazing. You know how that course works, I mean they drain you totally of magic and then send you into the simulator. They throw everything at you, all kinds of perils; it's guaranteed you'll get hurt."

The Commander nodded impatiently, biting hard on his fungus cigar.

"Well that girl, she just zipped right through, barely a scratch on her. Though," he added as an afterthought, "she didn't exactly follow the methods we taught her. She was incredible. And of course you know the rule that they're not allowed to aid other trainees. Well, Blake Sawbug-you know how dopey he is- had gotten himself into a pickle. The poor boy was beaten up pretty bad, barely able to stand, and the simulated troll was comin' for him. Short saw that and dove for him, dragging him outta the way; she even dragged him to the finish line."

"Isn't that defying orders?" Root cut in, his face flushing "Isn't it?"

"Well, yes, but it shows that she can think outside the box and cares not only for herself, but for the other officers."

"You better start training her better; I don't want a rogue officers on the recon," Root bellowed, his face now a strange shade of maroon.

"O-of course," stuttered Woodwork, "I mean she does have her downfalls; she's sarcastic, questions everything we teach, doesn't always follow the rules, and that girl has some tongue, I've never heard anyone curse so much. But Commander she wants it so much, she-"

"So does every other recruit," interrupted Root.

"Yes, I know Commander," Woodwork said, nodding his head vigorously, "but she even cut her hair off."

This got the commander's attention. He barely caught his cigar as his mouth fell open, "What?"

"Yep. I don't know if you know, but her hair use to be pretty long. The day after she had been accepted into the academy, she buzzed it off. Kinda reminds me of yours. Said something 'bout it being nothing but a pain in the ass and getting in the way all the time."

By this point the Commander's face was almost a blackish-red, and, having heard enough, he jumped up and rushed at Woodwork. Startled at this Woodwork flew toward the door, with a furious Commander shouting the entire time.

"GET OUT! OUT! DON'T EVER AGAIN COME BOTHERING ME WITH YOU'RE CRACKPOT STORIES ABOUT THE INCREDIBLE ROGUE, FEMALE RECRUIT!"

With that, he slammed the door in the face of Woodwork, shaking his office and several surrounding it.

It was Vinyaya who brought Holly to Julius's attention once again. It was the end of the day. Root had finished tearing the head off a wayward Corporal and was silently fuming, when, from behind him, he heard a voice say, "You know Julius, you really shouldn't let your blood pressure go up so high, or your head might burst."

Root whirled around, glaring at the Wing Commander, "Yeah, and you should learn to keep your yap shut," he retorted.

"Oh, come now Julius, it was just an observation. Besides, that's not the reason I'm here."

"Don't call me Julius. What in Frond's name do you want, then?"

"I would like to speak to you about an excellent student of mine."

"How good is he?"

"_She_, actually. Holly Short to be exact."

At the name, Root almost choked on his cigar. "Who!"

"Holly Short, and Julius, she is really something; she could pilot a shuttle pod in the space between your teeth. Though she did almost hit me when crash landing her first time, missed by six feet."

"Do I look like I give a damn?" demanded Root, his face rubicund.

"Well, no, but you should, I mean it Julius, she's a natural. She has quite a temper on her though, kinda reminds me of you. If you're not careful you may soon have a girl on the team."

This is what sent Root over the edge. With his face now a purplish hue, Root jumped to his feet, and bellowed, "THAT GIRL WILL BE ON MY TEAM THE DAY MUD MEN LEARN TO CARE ABOUT THINGS BESIDES THEMSELVES!"

Vinyaya sighed, "Whatever you say Julius." Seeing that there was nothing else to say, she got up and walked out the door, leaving the, now, murderous Commander.

We all know, of course, that a girl did make it on his team (Something that caused Vinyaya to comment, the day after Holly's acceptance, "Well Julius, it appears Mudmen have become empathetic.") We now join Miss Holly Short and Julius Root for one last scene.

The Captain and Commander are in a shuttle port, attempting to save a goblin. Things have taken a turn for the worse, and the Commander finds his time is running out. He watches Captain Short with slight admiration, proud of the officer she's become. Holly is negotiating with Opal, not once losing her nerve. He thinks about his first thoughts on Short, and a feeling of satisfaction consumes him. He was wrong about her; she was strong, determined, and brave. He has never been happier to be wrong.

Holly's trying to save him, lining her gun up with the button she thinks is there. The Commander has already realized Opal is tricking them, making Holly lose precious time she could use to save Artemis. He is glad to die the way he's always wanted, in action, on the field. Holly thinks she's missed the button, the grim realization making her more stubborn than ever. "_I've never been able to decide,"_ he thinks, "_if the stubbornness is a good thing or not."_

His time is almost spent. The Commander rises to his feet. He only lets the best on his team; those not tough or driven would be killed in a week. He had worked Holly to no end, and, he knew, she hated him for that. What she didn't know was he had believed she could make history. "_Well," _his mind says sarcastically, "_she's certainly done that."_ He smiles at her, thanking her for proving him wrong, and making him proud, something few officers have ever done.

The clock reaches zero. "_I only allow the best recruits on my team," _he finds himself thinking as his world is illuminated by orange before going black, "_and Holly has always been the best and brightest."

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**I wrote this story the end of April, but May was so busy I forgot about it, refound it the other day.**

**The idea for the story struck me during band one day, and I just had to write it. A story from my favorite character's pov(yes, Root is my favorite character), it was wonderful. :) The last section is written in first person because I liked the idea of the commander thinking about the first few scenes before he died. Also, I didn't describe what happened in the book in detail because I wanted to focus on what the commander was thinking, and, to be honest, I was a bit to tired and lazy at that point.**

**Thank you to my wonderful beta, Karma's Inferno, a thousand times thank you.**

**Finally, I want to give a shout out to my girlies, Mangopeelings, thank you for listening to all my insane rants with unbelievable patience, you're the best friend a girl can ask for, and, Wisegirl312, you're my favorite, and only, sister. No you can't read this until you finish the 4th book. Love ya darlins.**

**review with comments, questions, or concerns.  
**


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